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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23957701">Some Secrets Hurt More than Others</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixenofthemist/pseuds/Vixenofthemist'>Vixenofthemist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Happy Ending, I have a lot of feels, I started writing this before the reveal actually, My next oneshot of these two has to be fluff cause this was emotional to write, Verdant Wind Ending, and how Byleth might feel to have it suddenly revealed to her, but never canonly mentioned in game, but than it was revealed and i switched course to include it, byleth is sad and hurt and confused, cause wow, hurt/comfort?? Yeah sure, name angst, this is kind of a study about how I feel about the name Khalid being canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:28:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,193</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23957701</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixenofthemist/pseuds/Vixenofthemist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>[A Snippet of the Beginning]</p>
<p>Byleth hated secrets.<br/>They were a venom that had only ever poisoned her, dormant in her veins from birth till they bloomed their spikes and clung in her bloodstream, adulthood drenched in their effect.<br/>Like all poison she was aware they had their worth, a place to be useful, but it did not distill her distaste.<br/>Perhaps, in retrospect, she should have expected this getting close to him.<br/></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Some Secrets Hurt More than Others</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Byleth hated secrets.</p>
<p>They were a venom that had only ever poisoned her, dormant in her veins from birth till they bloomed their spikes and clung in her bloodstream, adulthood drenched in their effect.</p>
<p>Like all poison she was aware they had their worth, a place to be useful, but it did not distill her distaste.</p>
<p>Perhaps, in retrospect, she should have expected this getting close to him.</p>
<p>From the very first class she taught  she knew of his favoritism for toxic tonics, and soon discovered his taste for secrets even moreso.</p>
<p> He didn't hide either, always winking slyly when she'd ask him inquiries and sliding around answering truthfully,  but over the years of knowing him, Byleth had felt confident that she had him figured out like a routine.</p>
<p> Unlike his passion for upsetting stomachs, with hidden truths he was more interested in unravelling the antidote than making more - and she had felt the same. Ever since Sothis manifested in her mind and her fingers curled around the warmed hilt of the Sword of the Creator, the poison had awoken in her veins and she was first aware of the secrets hidden about her, and Claude had been one of the first confidants that she knew was on her side to find the source of the plague and purge it, and from the moment she awoke from her 5 year paralysis he had been there.</p>
<p>They had been more than just allies during the war; they were each others roots when one wavered, the wind guiding the armies leaves together, and eventual lovers soothing more than just wounds late at night. And Byleth had felt confident that Claude, of all people wasn't hiding poisonous secrets from her.</p>
<p>He had some, she knew that, but after everything they'd been through with Rhea and Edelgard, she had been able to sleep in his arms knowing he would never keep a secret like that from her.</p>
<p>He could keep his small vials hidden till he felt comfortable showing her his hand, and she had told him as such when he almost forced himself to tell her something when she could tell he wasn't ready.</p>
<p>But when she had said that, she had envisioned it would happen like it always did, just the two of them and the stars above, like it had been when he'd opened his heart about his dream.</p>
<p>Not, in front of everybody she knew and more, and most certainly not from Balthus' mouth instead of his own.</p>
<p>Eyes like the Brigid ocean were as large as one of their copper coins, and Byleth was grateful for Lorenz's insistence on decorum as she had her throne to sink onto as the others crowded like school children again around the newly announced King of Almyra.</p>
<p>Who resembled the man she loved in everyway but bore a different name.</p>
<p> She wondered numbly, as he looked her way through the faces, if he could still see through the mask of steel that was her defense and see the hints of pain blooming.</p>
<p>Or had that been fake to?</p>
<p>She couldn’t trust herself anymore to tell.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No one blinked an eye when Byleth retired early, Marianne even patted her shoulder and said it was a good idea after how tirelessly she went into cleaning up the aftermath.</p>
<p>Personal time with the king of Almyra had been brief to nonexistent and Byleth made sure of it, keeping the Almyrans busy and by extension him. Any moment they were together was spent focusing on more pressing matters at hand, and that was all that was keeping Byleth steady. If she hadn’t been Queen, than perhaps she would have let herself start processing sooner, but making sure the evacuated of Derdriu made it back safe, and the fallen mourned and living fed occupied most of her conscience.</p>
<p>It was a bad habit of hers, Seteth cautioned, to deny her own feelings for the sake of  others, but it was a small weight among many on the Ruler of the Dawn’s shoulders, and most often in times of personal weakness she was able to shrug it off till she was isolated where no one could see her stumble.</p>
<p>But with each utter of a name foreign on her tongue, not because of its homeland but because the familiar green eyes it belonged to, there reached a tension point where she had to address it with herself or else she didn’t know how to keep functioning.</p>
<p>He’d kept a respected distance from her ever since their embrace on first reuniting, observing her and keeping up the friendly smile she was used to, but now… she was questioning if she’d ever seen it actually light up his eyes.</p>
<p>She needed space to think.</p>
<p>“I’m going to take a bath.” Byleth reassured Hilda, pestering her about finally getting rid of all the blood caked onto her clothes and skin. She knew he heard her to, only across the table discussing places of stay for his army with Lorenz. Selfishly, she hoped that, alongside her strictly business attitude she’d held that day, would hold off his eventual company for a few hours more.</p>
<p>By the time Byleth had dragged her aching body and mind to the grand bathtub of her suite, it was already filled and waiting for her, not a maid in sight, and she wasted no time in slipping out of her clothes and sinking into it.</p>
<p>The warmth seeped with a soothing ache, and the tension of the body slowly dulled away.</p>
<p>But the turmoil of her mind was ever persistent. It was split into two fighting sides, one insisting he’d poisoned her just like the rest and the other saying he just withheld the cure for a time.</p>
<p>“<strong>He lied. He said he had minor connections in Almyra. Turns out his father was the king.”</strong></p>
<p>“<em>That doesn’t mean he didn’t have a reason to.” </em>Argued the other as she washed her hair. “<em>He was going into an unsteady climate wherever he went, parading around as a prince would have only caused him trouble.”</em></p>
<p><em>“<strong>But why did he never tell me?</strong></em> <strong><em>He said he loved me, but does he not trust me?</em></strong><em>”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“The two aren’t connected, he can love me and still have reasons to hide things.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“<strong>What reason did he have to hide his real self from me?</strong>”</em>
</p>
<p>The other side had no response, and Byleth hurried to wash her face.</p>
<p>Her eyes stung as she scrubbed both hands over her face, finally getting rid of the blood that clung there, but it wasn't from soap, and as she rinsed off the suds and clots some salt went with it.</p>
<p>The stinging persisted, even as she moved on from her face and hair and scrubbed with the bar at her body, moving down her cheeks and intensifying the ache in cuts too small to warrant healing.</p>
<p>Like a songstress stuck practicing a line, the name Balthus had spoken was repeating through her mind, and also the repeated ease Clau- he had taken being called it.</p>
<p>He really, truly, had hid from her this whole time. Letting her make a fool of herself with saying a fake name alongside everyone else… But none of them had ever mortifyingly moaned a false name on their lips.</p>
<p>“<em>There’s no reason to assume I’d be special just because he loves me, dad loved me and he kept me sheltered from a lot for my own good.”</em></p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>“But was it actually for my good? And it’s a lot to assume Claude actually loved me and it wasn’t all part of his Fódlan façade, until he shows proof of it I can’t know for sure anymore…”</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>“Besides, others had expected me to be special.”</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>That was true. Multiple of the Golden Deer had approached Byleth at one point in the day and asked when she found out Claude was a fake name. And with a detached look she answered same time they did, and changed the subject back to whatever other matter was at hand. But the shocked faces told her all she needed to know.</p>
<p>Her left shoulder was getting raw with how furious she was scrubbing over and over in the same spot, water misting her vision of the fine tapestry above the large bath, and with a sudden wince, Byleth realized what she was doing.</p>
<p>Blinking rapidly to dispel the evidence, Byleth set the bar back on its holder. This was all counterproductive. She needed to process, not spiral, and it would do no good for her body to do more physical pain including the emotional tumble that was her current thoughts. It would probably be best if she took a page from Sothis' guidance and slept.</p>
<p>To her surprise, a tea tray was waiting on a small table with some light fruit, and as she stepped into the room the aroma of Almyran pine needles filled her nose. Most likely the work of Flayn, who had taken to make sure Byleth always had a warm cup to wind down with every night.</p>
<p>A deep inhale was followed by a shaky exhale as she breathed in the comforting scent, finishing tying the black robe loosely over her nightgown.</p>
<p>The start of a downpour hit against the windows as she poured herself a cup, falling into the plush armchair and picking up the delicate porcelain with both hands.</p>
<p>It reminded her of him.</p>
<p>She only ever began drinking it because it was his favorite, and breathing it in brought back sweet memories of late night conversations where both of them had been open and honest.</p>
<p>Eyes opened to the ceiling as her head thumped against the headrest, cup placed back on the table but still held firm.</p>
<p>Who was she remembering, exactly?</p>
<p>Was it... him? Actually, him? Or had that been a persona, built around the Fòdlan name he chose?</p>
<p>It hurt to think so, more than anything else, (the boil of the tea transferred through the thin glass and warmed the ring nestled on her left hand), but it was a possibility she couldn’t shake. Too many times in her life she’d taken someone at face value, and gotten a sword swung at her because of it. Or worse, gotten a sword plunged in someone else’s back.</p>
<p>She shook her head violently to get rid of that memory, it was not needed.</p>
<p>With a frustrated sigh she leaned against the armrest and rubbed her temple, the slightly warm metal of the ring feeling nice against her cold flesh.</p>
<p>She had no idea how she was going to handle tomorrow.</p>
<p>A knock broached the silence of her own thoughts, and with a glare perhaps too intense she got up and opened it.</p>
<p>She knew it was going to be him.</p>
<p>“Glad to know being a king has finally given you the ability to knock before entering.” Byleth said dryly, and the man with Claude’s face grinned at her. Seeing him made her blood both boil and go cold, creating an uncomfortable storm of her own emotions that couldn’t be pinned down to focus on just one, and that made her already irritable mood spark even more and her nails dig into the wood of the door. But she didn’t want to be irritable, she wanted answers, so she did her best to quell the storm inside and loosened her grip.</p>
<p>“I am forced to have some manners now, yeah, but don’t have your expectations too set. I’m still barely cut out for all this.” He said, and with a roll of her eyes Byleth opened the door wider to let him in. He’d also freshened up, and was out of his battle armor and was wearing only pants and a simple night shirt. but mostly she compared him to their last meeting months ago.</p>
<p>His hair was mostly the same, swept back though maybe longer, and during the day it was wrapped in a scarf with a braid like his youth, but now it curled freely around his face. His beard was still trimmed neatly and well maintained along his chin, and there were some bags under his eyes, signifying that he’d been staying up as much as she had, but even after a long day of battle and recovery he looked awake as he waltzed into the room that used to be his not even a year ago.</p>
<p>The rain outside fell harder, seeping the cold of the ocean into her bedchamber and she drew her robe tighter.</p>
<p>She caught a tart retort on the tip of her tongue, bitterly stating she knew what it was like to not be fully qualified for something, but that was too sharp of a knife when still unsure of who poisoned her glass, so she swallowed it.</p>
<p>With a stiff hand, she gestured to the tea set.</p>
<p>“Would you like some tea? Flayn prepared Almyran pine.”</p>
<p>“I noticed, but I’m fine thanks.” He was watching her as she bolted the door shut- a precaution that was a second thought at this point- and she avoided his gaze, eyes on her cup as she walked past and picked it up again. “I actually came to discuss some… personal matters.” He stepped forward slowly, tracking her reaction.</p>
<p>“Did you?” Byleth asked distantly, stirring the cooling tea.</p>
<p>“Yes. I didn’t miss how you’ve been acting today, so I… wanted to check on you. Make sure you’re okay.” He stepped closer, still cautious, but now standing next to her. “So… how are you?”</p>
<p>It was awkward, especially for the two of them who usually knew each other so well the words almost never had to be asked, but he forced it out all the same. Aware as much as she was to the heaviness between them.</p>
<p>But that wasn’t her fault.</p>
<p>She blocked his worried face from her peripheral by closing her eyes.</p>
<p>“I’m… overwhelmed,” she admitted, that being something she felt comfortable admitting. “but fine. Nothing a good nights rest won’t fix I’m sure.”</p>
<p>She was deflecting, and the smile she gave him was tight. Tired as she was, she knew the moment her head hit the pillow she would only once more be a whirl of her own thoughts that would combat sleep for hours, and nothing would be settled by the time morning came. But there was no point in telling him that.</p>
<p>“If there’s anything I can do to help By, don’t hesitate to say it. That’s what I’m here for.”</p>
<p>“Is it? I’ll be sure to have Lorenz ready a list of what you can do to help, than. I’m sure he’ll enjoy making it greatly.”</p>
<p>He hesitated.</p>
<p>She was acting weird, even though she was trying to prevent it. Her words came out stiff and harsh and dismissive, and she hated that this is what their first reunion together had become. She had always envisioned it in a cavalcade of kissing and not being able to leave the others side… but there hadn’t been any surprises in those daydreams quite like the one he had thrown on her.</p>
<p>“That’s not… quite the service I was offering, but of course, I’ll handle whatever Lorenz tells me to do if it’ll help you.” He answered slowly, but honestly, and internally Byleth grimaced. It would be easier on the turmoil of her heart if he wasn’t so genuine.</p>
<p>If his care for her had been truthful, than that did nothing to help figure out his intentions behind lying to her.</p>
<p>The grimace also came from a hatred towards herself.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to force yourself to.” Byleth tried remedying, too placate enough so this conversation could be over with and hopefully back to where she could try and rein herself in, but her tongue seemed to be as against her as her thoughts tonight.  “You have your own people you need to manage, I’ll take care of mine.”</p>
<p>The first bolt of lightning cracked over the sea, illuminating the room in its pregnant pause following her words.</p>
<p>“… I see.” He only said two words but it still carried his pain behind steeled causality to her ears.</p>
<p>Byleth had winced as soon as the words left her mouth, and hearing his change in demeanor got her cursing herself and the sides in her head to the hells for not being able to control her tongue, and for the hint of hurt that had flashed through his eyes like an pillar of light.</p>
<p>“No, Claude, that’s not what-” Her attempt at explaining was executed by a slip of words, and she cut herself off as fast as the pain hit her. “No not- <em>fuck!”</em> Byleth seethed in frustrated breath through clenched teeth as she collapsed into a chair, fingers digging into her scalp as she buried her face between her palms.</p>
<p>The two sides that had been fighting all evening felt like they combined into a headache that split her skull like a thunder clap, and her breathing was heavy as she tried to conjure up even one string of thought that was cohesive enough to tell him.</p>
<p>Everything seemed to be pounding in her thoughts, like the worst of a poisons symptom was hitting her, and she lost comprehension of where he was.</p>
<p>It wasn’t till he knelt beside her, gently holding her shoulder, that she knew he had approached her.</p>
<p>“Byleth? Are you okay?”</p>
<p>One hand collapsed onto the table so she could look at him, the stinging back in her eyes blurring him.</p>
<p>“I don’t know.” She admitted.</p>
<p>“Could you tell me something? Honestly?” She asked, desperation on the words so heavily it could sink a vessel- she certainly felt like it could sink her.</p>
<p>He finally came into focus as he nodded.</p>
<p>“Of course, anything.”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you tell me?”</p>
<p>“Well… Fodlan doesn’t exactly view Almyra in good light, so-“ He began, slow and pre-prepared, but Byleth stopped him, shaking her head.</p>
<p>“No, not that. I knew that.”</p>
<p>His green eyes widened, joining his mouth in forming an “o”.</p>
<p>“Y-you did?”</p>
<p>She didn’t answer, just nodding.</p>
<p>He had more questions about that, but he placed that aside, alongside a weight that seemed to be lifted at her admission. His brow furrowed down from their surprised height.</p>
<p>“Than what did I not tell you?”</p>
<p>Your-“ She struggled to say it, catching in her throat, but that was cleared as the implications to what he said manifested in her mind, and just like that the storm picked up speed.</p>
<p>“Wait- did you think I would have trouble with you being Almyran?” Byleth asked instead, voice rising to an almost insulted tone.</p>
<p>He blinked, caught off guard yet again, and raised the hands not on her arm to scratch at his neck.</p>
<p>“Well- yes, I assumed everyone would to some extent.” He admitted, a little apprehensively.</p>
<p>In a far portion of her brain, Byleth understood what he was trying to say.</p>
<p>But that little logical bubble was vastly overshadowed by the exhaustion of sleepless nights preparing for the battle of Derdriu that was idling her reason; the emotional toxins that had clung to her like parasites and had swirled up everything she was struggling with, and the devastation she felt that this confirmed all her fears.</p>
<p>He had been holding her at arms length all this time.</p>
<p>And just like that, the storm in her subsided as anger won the struggle, being the easiest to fall on to in a moment of emotional despair, and her temper flared like a wolf cornered.</p>
<p>“So that’s really what you think of me?” Byleth spat out, cutting him off. She shook her head in disbelief, hurt recoiled on her features as she stood up with enough force under her palms to rattle the kettle. “That I’m just another blindly Almyran hating Fòdlaner?!”</p>
<p>“Now hold on!” He shot up to his feet too, hands up in defense. “That is not what I said.”</p>
<p>“What could you have possibly meant besides that?? What am I supposed to take from you immediately assuming my problem is with the Almyra and not- oh I don’t know- something not as despicable!”</p>
<p>She took a step away, one arm crossed as the other ran a hand thru her still slightly damp locks. "I knew you must not trust me, but to know you think that low of me hurts-"</p>
<p>“Not trust you?!” Claude interrupted, his own strain of reaction temper flaring slightly. “Now that I have no idea where you got that from. Did all those years of waiting for you mean nothing- weeks of relying on you during the war get forgotten in only a few months apart?”</p>
<p>“Of course not. I held your trust so dearly, some days it’s all that got me to rise, but today- today made me question everything and I don’t know what to think anymore!” Byleth had never raised her voice this high outside of battle, it wasn’t quite yelling, but it was getting close to there. Half to be heard over the downpour against the window panes, half as an outlet to try and force the turmoil out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He huffed in frustration, trying to keep himself in check but the travel and battle was just as weary on him as it was on her.</p>
<p>“You keep, saying that but you aren’t telling me what the problem is!”</p>
<p>“I was going to, but than you went and assumed the worst of me!” Byleth’s arms pressed tightly against her chest, the only steady part about her. Her voice was slowly rising, and so was his. “Forgive me if that made me upset.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, please tell me what I did wrong!” He insisted, voice terse with desperation.</p>
<p>“It’s your name!” Byleth’s voice wasn’t much louder in volume, but it reverberated through the room like thunder as it cracked, a sound not many had heard from her as Byleth’s rage usually equaled tranquil fury, but this hurt her in a way nothing had before and brought out a demon she’d never shown. She brought it back down with a clenched fist, lower lip quivering slightly as she held his gaze. “It’s you’re fucking- real name, <em>Claude.</em> You had one this whole time and I had <em>no</em> clue. Do you know how much of an idiot I feel?!”</p>
<p>“Why do you feel like an idiot? You have no reason to-“</p>
<p>“No reason to?!” Byleth snapped, taking a step forward, and once again they were close. “I didn’t trust anyone as much as I did you, and I thought it was mutual, that we didn’t hold secrets from each other. I mean it when I say you know… <em>everything </em>about me, more than anyone else. Maybe even more than myself, and I truly believed I was the same for you. But like always I’m never trusted enough. There’s always someone who knows more about the people I care about and I’m the last to know.”</p>
<p>The tears were back to burn at her eyes, an awful symptom of feelings, and with a sharp turn she paced away from him, the ring pressing the robe against her raw shoulder as she hugged herself. “It makes me want to plunge a knife into my chest and dig out how embarrassed and hurt I feel, cause not only again was I tricked but-” Sharp, pained inhale of breath.  “every time we slept together I wasn’t even saying your real name.” A hand tussled her hair as she stopped, half facing away from him as the stinging persisted down her cheeks. “It didn’t ever even occur to me that it might not be and I spoke it with so much of my feelings that now I just feel so <em>stupid</em>! That I could think for once that I’m a confidant.” Byleth held herself tighter, stopping to face the sky and the imprint of the rain pelted window stayed behind her eyelids. It looked how her face felt.</p>
<p>“The first time I ever said I love you and it was to a fake name... and in the end you didn’t even tell me yourself.” The anger seeped into anguish as she admitted one of the heaviest problems plaguing her heart, and it hung in the air heavy and electric, feeling as weighty out as it had in. “All day people have been approaching me, asking me when you told me, and every time I had to tell them you never did it hurt so much. My life’s been unsteady since the day I was born but I was <em>so</em> sure of your trust in me… but everyone’s faces made me doubt, and spiral.”</p>
<p>There was more she could have said, but her throat was raw, and he needed time to speak, so she stopped, eyes still firmly shut and away from him.</p>
<p>His swallow was as heavy as the weight she had just thrown on him.</p>
<p>“Byleth I had… I had no idea.”</p>
<p>There was a dull of silence, besides the storm, as he struggled with the right words to say. He had prepared for an Almyran rant, not a heart-wrenching admittance that he had hurt her in a way he hadn’t even considered. But he knew about it now, and even if it was too late to prevent it, he wasn’t going to let the disruption it caused to stay between them.</p>
<p>There was determination in his steps as he moved beside her, gently turning her towards him.</p>
<p>“Byleth,” He started, urging her to look at him, and when she did her eyes were somber and red rimmed from crying. “I’m still Claude. Yes, it was a fake name, I’m not going to deny that, but it was me. Hell, with you I was more myself than I had ever been with anybody.” He admitted, emotions raw, his hold on her shoulders firm but not forceful. “ I got caught up in my own head, and I never even considered how you might feel about it being a fake name, and that’s all on me and words really can’t express how sorry I am - but I’m not a different person. Claude was never not me, especially when it came to you.”</p>
<p>He wiped her cheek with his thumb, cradling her face gently.</p>
<p>“I never … I was blindsided by my own fears that people wouldn’t trust me when they found out the truth, I’ll admit. It’s the only reaction I ever got so it was hard to plan for any other kind, but after the school year I <em>never</em> thought that of you. Even in my nightmares when the others turn away from me you never did. I wish I had a good excuse for why I never told you... but I don’t.” He paused, thinking hard. “The months leading up to me leaving I was caught off guard with how excited I felt to be able to share even more of myself with you… But I guess a small part of me was always scared that once everyone found out, I’d just be the disliked prince again… and that held me back from telling you everything.”</p>
<p>His voice was thick, and he cleared his throat, blinking quickly.</p>
<p>“Oh.” Byleth said numbly, feeling a little anger towards herself for getting so caught up in something he had an explanation for, but he must have seen the flash of self disgust in her eyes because he quickly added.</p>
<p>“Not saying that excuses me not telling you! I should have. Like I said- no excuse. If I had, we both could have been saved a lot of pain.” He squeezed her hand, and Byleth knitted her brows in concern.</p>
<p>“What do you mean “saved both of us some pain?”</p>
<p>“Ah, well… I’ll admit when I saw how you were acting I… I thought that maybe my fears had been right.”  </p>
<p>“I’m sorry.” Byleth whispered with truth, placing a hand on his cheek and running a thumb across the stubble. “I should have just gone up to you to talk, but it’s been a lot in a few hours and I was so unsure how to confront it because all my brain was doing was tossing emotion after emotion at me and it was unbearable. I don’t even know what I’ve been doing most of today.”</p>
<p>He took her hand off his cheek and held it tightly, bringing his hand once again to cradle her face.</p>
<p>“No, don’t apologize, it sounds like we both had a rough day.” He chuckled lightly. “Little bit ironic that the easiest part was fighting the Slithers.”</p>
<p>That brought a tired smile to Byleth.</p>
<p>“Speak for yourself mr. “Grand Arrival”, I would have been able to handle all this much better if I hadn’t spent the night before dealing with them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, it was impeccably timed and you loved it.” He teased, slipping some levity back into her, and Byleth was relieved he did. She laughed, a little hoarsely, but it was laughter all the same.</p>
<p>Seeing that brought a smile to his lips that crinkled the ends of his eyes, and he leaned forward till their foreheads touched, savoring being this close to her again and being able to make her smile. Their fingers laced together, as he spoke again, softly.</p>
<p>“I am sorry for causing you grief, in hindsight I am kicking myself for not just straightening up and telling you, but I am glad it was over something I could explain myself over and not… just me being me.”</p>
<p>Byleth leaned into his arms, a pleasant soft warmth like a lighthouse in a storm directing her to be able to breathe and think for the first time in hours- no, days.</p>
<p>“It was a little bit you being you.” She admitted, but there was no storm under her words anymore, just conversation, and the clouds outside hadn’t roared in minutes. “Hoarding secrets close like your collection of poison, but at the end of all this I still love you. All of it, even the part that keeps secret, because if this proved anything to me it’s that the secrets you hold close are the ones you’re most afraid others won’t like you for, so I’ll love even them blindly till you don’t have any left to tell me.”</p>
<p>She lovingly brushed his cheek, emerald ring nestled comfortable on her finger, and his arm wrapped around her waist.</p>
<p> “Cause I love you Khalid.” The conviction in her voice was as strong as the adoration in his eyes as they drew each other even closer. Now that the issue had been resolved she wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms.</p>
<p>“Just… be the one to tell me next time, promise?” She whispered against his lips.</p>
<p>Khalid nodded, bumping their noses together slightly.</p>
<p>“I promise, on the stars and my heart. I said I love you with everything that I am, and I meant it. Khalid meant it, Claude meant it- whichever you prefer- it’s the same heart that beats for you.”</p>
<p>And with a familiar taste of Almyran pine on her lips, Byleth felt any last clinging toxin in her veins melt away to his kiss.</p>
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